Emergency fire escape apparatus



March 7, 19467 J. c. GREEN EfAL 3 3 7 55 EMERGENCY FIRE ESCAPE APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2, 1965 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN'I'ORS JACK C. GQEEN FEED N.7 7o22/s0- OQ M/QM AENT March 7, 19.6.7 J. C..GREEN .ET'AL 3,307,654

EMERGENCY FIRE ESCAPE APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2, 1965 ZSIwets-Sheet 2 J21 C. GQEEM F250 N. MOEE/SON INVEN'IORS AGENT United States Patent EMERGENCY FIRE ESCAPE APPARATUS Jack C. Green, Los Angeles County, Calif. (3870 Carpenter Ave., Studio City, Calif. 91604), and Fred N. Morrison, Los Angeles County, Calif. (1000 W. Orange Grove, Burbank, Calif. 91502) Filed Aug. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 476,325

5 Claims.- (Cl. 182-498) This invention relates broadly to emergency fire escape systems and more particularly to an improved fire escape equipment for installation on buildings when needed and adapted for packaging in a compact ararngement so as to be held in reserve for emergency purposes.

There has always been a problem associated with the placement of a fire ladder adjacent the upright wall of a building to accommodate ingress and egress of persons to and from upper story windows of a multiple story building. Some of the problems involved reside in the fact that conventional ladders must be either raised from the ground to the upper story window or when ladders may be lowered from such an upper story window, difficulties have been encountered inregistering the upper portion or anchor of the ladder with the supporting window sill structure. Furthermore, problems'also reside in the fact that conventional ladders, particularly of the rope type, have a tendency to twist and become entangled either upon installation of the ladder on the sill or when in actual use due to body movements of persons employing such a ladder. These ladders are usually bulky, even when folded into a packaged unit, which creates additional problems in storage and ready access to the equipment during emergency situations.

Therefore, one of the primary objects of our invention is to provide an improved temporarily installed equipment for the protection of occupants of buildings comprising an emergency escape system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel escape ladder for multiple story buildings or the like that is light in weight, sturdy in construction, and relatively inexpensive to construct.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a novel device that'is portable in nature and may be readily installed or removed from the sill of a building and which includes fail safe means for assuring proper instal ation of the ladder.

Another object of the present invention is to provide novel fire escape equipment in which the equipment is normally stored in a relatively small and compact package in reserve of an emergency and which may be brought into operation under emergency conditions for' the saving of life and property by ready removal of the ladder from the package and further incorporating fail safe means for assuring proper installation and anchorage of the ladder when in use. I

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved flexible, corrosion resistant ladder construction which may be lowered from the upper floors or stories of a building structure or the like adjacent the vertical wall thereof under conditions of emergency for enabling entrapped persons to descend therefrom in safety.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of emergency fire escape equipment which may be readily installed and projected through a window adjacent the upper floors of a building and capable of being removed from its storage compartment or package under emergency conditions for immediate installation on the sill of the window. I

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel arrangement of emergency fire escape equipment which includes fail safe means for directing and guiding 'a pivotal ladder hook portion into ready attachment at an anchor position on the sill of a window so that a foldable ladder portion extends adjacent the exterior of the supporting structure for providing an emergency escape for persons through the window of a fire engulfed building.

Accordingly, the ladder system of the present invention pertains to fol-dableescape equipment suitable for storage in a compact package in reserve until emergency conditions require its use. Such emergency condition may exist particularly in high rise or multi-story buildings when such conditions as fire are tending to destroy the building. Rather than have the limitations which exist when ladders are raised from the ground, the apparatus of the present invention provides a flexible, corrosionresistant ladder portion having weight bearing spaced rungs which are let down from the upper story windows of a building'from a hook portion anchored to the window sill to accommodate the exodus of persons from the building via the window.

The device of the present invention also has other applications with respect to situations in which a temporary lader arrangement is desirable such as, for example, boat and dock usage, household ladders and a variety of other applications. The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the novel ladder apparatus of the present invention illustrated as the apparatus appears folded in a compact package arrangement or'assembly when in storage awaiting use;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the emergency ladder apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 illustrating the initial installation of the apparatus by means of its anchor hooks on the sill of a window;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to the view of FIGURE 2 showing the flexible ladder portion of the apparatus released and extending from the hooks against the exterior surface of a building wall;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the ladder apparatus of the present invention illustrating the compact disposition of the parts thereof prior to release of the flexible ladder portion as taken in the direction of arrows 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the ladder apparatus package as taken in the direction of arrows 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged elevational view having portions broken away to expose the parts thereof illustrating the indexmeans for the ladder hooks serving as a fail safe means to assure proper alignment of the ladder anchoring hooks with respect to the rung spacers carried on the flexible ladder portion;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of the flexible ladder portion of the apparatus as it would appear unfolded as shown in FIGURE 3 taken in the direction of arrows 77; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the anchor hook registration or index means as illustrated in FIGURE 2 taken in the direction of arrow 8.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the ladder apparatus of the present invention is shown in its folded condition or state for storage purposes wherein the ladder apparatus is in reserve for immediate use when desired in the event of an emergency situation or the like. The ladder apj paratus comprises, in general, a pair of hooks indicated by numerals and 11 pivotally carried on the opposite ends of a top support rung 12 from which the folding ladder portion, indicated in the general direction of arrow 13, is supportedly connected. The ladder portion is shown as being arranged in a special order to permit rapid and unencumbered unfolding of the ladder portion components when desired and is illustrated as being contained within a case or enclosure 14 for maintaining the folded ladder portion in its proper order of release.

The case is of one piece construction including a back wall 15, as shown in FIGURE 4, a front wall 16 bent from the bottom of the back wall about a bottom rung 17 and a flap 18 bent or folded about the support rung 12 over the upper or free end of the front wall. The case is further provided with a quick release fastener which, as shown in FIGURE 4, includes a stud 20 carried on the front wall that projects through a slit in the flap and a clasp element 21 pivotally secured to the projecting end of the stud so that when the clasp element is pivoted against the exterior surface of the flap, the flap and front wall are releasably connected together. The flap 18 is further formed with an extension or tab 22 which when lifted outwardly from the exterior surface of the front wall will cause the tab element on the fastening mechanism topivot on the stud so that the slot in the fiap will pass over the tab element to disconnect the flap from the front wall. To rigidize the case, stiffeners 23 are provided along the edge marginal regions of the front and back walls. In further'reference to FIGURE 4, it is noted that the ladder portion 13 includes a plurality of rungs, such as rung 24, which are arranged in parallel in side-by-side relationship within the case or enclosure 14 in a predetermined arrangement of release order. The opposite ends of each rung, as shown more clearly in FIGURE 7, are secured by a woven loop or slot 25 formed in a continuous webbing 26 connecting between all of the ladder rungs in such a fashion that the rungs are equally spaced apart from one another when the ladder portion is unfolded. The webbing is preferably of woven nylon and the slots are formed along its length into which the ends of the ladder rungs are inserted. An additional advantage resides in the fact that the nylon webbing is very strong and is foldable without twisting or entangling into loops as indicated by numeral 27 for storage. The woven slots adapted to receive the rungs of the ladder may include, if desired, a piece of nylon webbing which is secured on its opposite end to a single piece of nylon webbing of continuous length extending from the top rung to the bottom rung in such a fashion that a loop or socket is provided into which the ends of the ladder rungs are inserted. For additional strength, a second piece of nylon webbing may be employed by attachingits opposite ends to the continuous webbing so as to provide reinforcement for the socket.

In order to space the ladder rungs away from the exterior surface of a wall 28 so as to insure convenient hand and foot holds, the extreme opposite ends of each rung is provided with a spacer 30 which is rigidly fixed to the rung by means of an interference fit in conjunction with a slot or passageway provided through each end of the rung.

7 Referring now to FIGURE 8, index means are shown operatively connecting the hooks 10 and 11 to the opposite endsof the top rung 12 so that the hook-may be unfolded by rotation in a predetermined direction. The index means represents a fail safe feature of the present invention which. permits the hooks to be rotated from their stored position adjacent the front wall of the case to a position shown in broken lines in FIGURE 1 which places each hook perpendicular to the vertical plane in which the plurality of ladder rungs lie. Therefore, the hooks can be opened only in one direction and the extent of rotation is limited to prevent the hooks from being inadvertently rotated out of their proper position re: 75

4 quired to grasp or engage a windowsill 31 as shown in FIGURE 2.

The indexing means includes a conventional T-joint 32 having a vertical bore through which one end of the hook 11 passes. A lower portion of the hook 11 projects from the T-member and is provided with a spacer 33 which is similar to the plurality of spacers 30. The T-member is provided with a portion 34 transversely extending inwardly from the portion of the T-mernber carrying the hook which includes a transverse bore adapted to receive one end of the top rung 12. The rung end may be secured to the T-member by a rivet 29. The hook 11 is provided with a key 34 which rides in a recess 35 formed in the T-mernber 32 having end stops 36 and 37 against which the key 34 abuts to limit the rotation of the hook 11. The key 34 and the spacer 33 insure that the hook 11 will be maintained on the T-member. Furthermore, the spacer 33 spaces the top rung of the ladder from the surface of the wall 28 to provide stability during, the unfolding of the ladder for usage.

In actual operation, the folding ladder of the present invention is packed for storage as indicated in FIGURE 1 wherein the ladder portion 13 is folded in a predetermined release order and is contained within the case 14, The hooks 10 and 11 are folded inwardly against one another as shown in solid lines so that a complete compact package is effected,

To utilize the ladder, the hooks are rotated outwardly from their storage position to the position shown in broken lines in FIGURE 1. Further outward rotation of the hooks is prevented by key 34 engagement with the end of the recess 35. Next, the hook members including the rung 12 are rotated counterclockwise so that the open hooks face the backside of the package. The hooks are then mounted on a sill 31 with spacers 33 resting against the surface 28 of the wall. Tab 22 of the case is lifted sothat the clasp 21 passes through the slot in the flap 18 to release the case from the ladder portion 13. Inasmuch as the plurality of ladder rungs are held together by the continuous webbing in a predetermined release order, the lower rung 17 will drop permitting the other rungs of the plurality to follow until the ladder is fully unfolded and extended from the top rung 12 as shown in FIGURE 3. The step rungs included in the ladder pOrtlon 13 may beprevented from rotating with the woven slots provided in the webbing strips by employing a suitable epoxy adhesive 40 or the like for the purpose of maintaining the rung spacers at right angle to the side of the building or other wall structure.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be abvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover. all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim: I

1. A foldable ladder apparatus comprising:

a top support rung;

a plurality of step rungs;

a pair of webbing strips having one end of each of said strips rotatably attached about said top support rung in fixed spaced relationship with respect to each other;

each of said pair of strips having woven slots arranged along the length of each of said strips adapted to receive and retain the opposite ends of each of said step rungs whereby said step rungs .are spaced apart in fixed spaced relationship when the ladder is unfolded;

a case for releasably enclosing said plurality of step rungs in a predetermined order of release which embraces said step rungs and said top support rung between said pair of strips whereby said pair of strips form consecutive loops in line along the opposite edges of said case; and

means carried on said case for selectively opening said case to release said step rungs which under the effects of gravity causes said step rungs to unfold in accordance with said predetermined order.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 including .a pair of hook members;

a T-member fixed to the opposite ends of said top support r-ung to rotatabl-y mount said hook members to the opposite ends of said top support rung so that said hook members may rotate between a storage position against the front of said case and an operative position facing the back of said case; and indexing means operatively connected between each of said hook members and said T-members for limiting the extent of rotation of each of said hook members. 15

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 including a pair of elongated spacers fixed to the opposite ends of each of said step rungs outside of said pair of strips adapted to separate said step rungs from the exterior of a ladder supporting wall.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said case includes stiffening means to rigidize said case to hold said step rungs in said predetermined order of release.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 including means securing said step rungs to said pair of strips so as to prevent the rotation of said step rungs within said woven slots.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 148,409 9/1873 Parsons 182206 192,403 6/1877 Allen 182198 428,635 5/1890 Sample 182163 2,851,312 9/1958 Hoff 182-150 2,966,228 12/1960 K-owalski 182-150 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FOLDABLE LADDER APPARATUS COMPRISING: A TOP SUPPORT RUNG; A PLURALITY OF STEP RUNGS; A PAIR OF WEBBING STRIPS HAVING ONE END OF EACH OF SAID STRIPS ROTATABLY ATTACHED ABOUT SAID TOP SUPPORT RUNG IN FIXED SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER; EACH OF SAID PAIR OF STRIPS HAVING WOVEN SLOTS ARRANGED ALONG THE LENGTH OF EACH OF SAID STRIPS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND RETAIN THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF EACH OF SAID STEP RUNGS WHEREBY SAID STEP RUNGS ARE SPACED APART IN FIXED SPACED RELATIONSHIP WHEN THE LADDER IS UNFOLDED; A CASE FOR RELEASABLY ENCLOSING SAID PLURALITY OF STEP RUNGS IN A PREDETERMINED ORDER OF RELEASE WHICH EMBRACES SAID STEP RUNGS AND SAID TOP SUPPORT RUNG BETWEEN SAID PAIR OF STRIPS WHEREBY SAID PAIR OF STRIPS FORM CONSECUTIVE LOOPS IN LINE ALONG THE OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID CASE; AND MEANS CARRIED ON SAID CASE FOR SELECTIVELY OPENING SAID CASE TO RELEASE SAID STEP RUNGS WHICH UNDER THE EFFECTS OF GRAVITY CAUSES SAID STEP RUNGS TO UNFOLD IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID PREDETERMINED ORDER. 